December 21, 2012

Belarus and Vietnam may establish a joint venture for milk processing in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, according to Belarus' deputy trade minister, Edvard Matulis.

A trading house "Belarus-Vietnam" opened in Hanoi in September 2012 to promote products made by companies affiliated with Belgospishcheprom Concern. At present, the parties are working on a scheme to supply dairy and canned meat products to Vietnam. Belarus seeks to export skimmed milk powder, butter, condensed milk and cream.

Contacts have been established with the Vietnamese company, BaVi. The company is interested in importing Belarusian dairy products to Vietnam and establishing dairy processing facilities in Hanoi. Belarusian milk will be used as the raw material, the Deputy Trade Minister said.

Chief of the foreign economic activity department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Vasily Prudnikov, informed that the first batch of milk powder has already been shipped to Vietnam and is now undergoing customs clearance procedures. After everything is done, Belarusian specialists will visit the company BaVi to help arrange milk processing using Belarusian technologies.

Vasily Prudnikov noted that it is hard to compete with products imported to Vietnam from New Zealand and Australia. These countries have a highly developed agricultural industry. Therefore, Belarus opted to set up a processing facility there.

Belarus has a solid trade surplus with Vietnam. In 2011, it stood at almost US$118 million. Over the ten months of this year, it neared US$107 million. Belarus' major exports to Vietnam include potash fertilisers, machine sets for trucks, dump trucks, tires, tractors, spare parts, bearings, metal products and foodstuffs.